Post by Sleeves on Mar 30, 2014 20:10:12 GMT
021
“You’re Ealadha. You’re the Tuatha who’s been possessing Gorrell.”
The masked man whom Elie had come to know as Thomas Foolery inclined his head. An unnatural breeze stirred his cloak. The typically bright colors of the Aetheris were dull and murky, the sky gray and undulating with dark clouds. “Yes and no. I am called Ealadha, but I am no Tuatha.”
Elie shook his head. “But your Magic, it feels like—”
“Abadan’s? My Magic is indeed of Annwn. I, however, am not. My body, my soul, was born of the Earth.” Ealadha’s voice was deep and full, much more so than it had been as Tom. The round holes in his mask, painted to resemble the pale face of a barn owl, seemed suddenly much more menacing than they ever had before. Like twin black holes.
“I don’t understand,” Elie said cautiously. Ealadha was not as volatile as Abadan or Dagda, but Elie would not make the mistake of underestimating his power.
“I was once a Mage of Elberon. But I was an idealist, a fool. I believed I could bind the Magic of Mag Mell to my will and use it to change the world for the better. I journeyed to Annwn and, among the ruins of Murias, performed a series of rituals not unlike those taught to you by your First. I connected with Annwn in a way no mortal was ever meant to. She, Annwn, shred my soul so completely that even Daedarus Cain would cringe.”
Ealadha tilted his head back ever so slightly, and for a brief moment Elie caught a glimpse of the man’s eyes. They were pale, though he could not see their color, and curved into crescents. Elie thought he must be smiling under his mask. “But unlike dear Daedarus’s wounds, mine have never healed. Annwn is not so merciful as your Mother.”
“Ealadha the Sundered,” Elie said grimly. He swallowed once, twice, three times. The combination of the influx of information and the suffocating presence of Ealadha’s polluted Magic was becoming too much. If he didn’t get a grip soon, he would be expelled from the Aetheris.
“An appropriate epithet,” Ealadha agreed, “Given to me by an old friend.”
“If you’re from Elberon, then why try to destroy it?” Elie asked.
Ealadha hummed thoughtfully, clasping his hands behind his back, and for a moment Elie was reminded of Daedarus. “Because the Magi are in need of a messiah. Because someone must deliver them from their cultural decay. Because it is necessary to destroy before I can create. And because I can.”
“You’re delusional,” Elliot accused, his hands curling into fists. He could feel his Magic rising up, responding to his anger.
“Perhaps I would have agreed with you, once. But you must realize that what I am doing is not for myself. It is for the Magi. It is for Magic. I wish to create a renaissance. You have heard of Europe’s emergence from the Dark Ages into a period of cultural rebirth and growth? ”
Elie nodded faintly, feeling as though he had lost the direction of Ealadha’s logic.
“Tell me, little God Slayer, what started the Renaissance?”
Elie could only stare, horrified, as the pieces clicked into perfect, horrible place.
“The Crusades.”
Elie jolted awake, panting and gasping and drenched in sweat. He sat up and leaned against the headboard of his bed, running a hand through his dark curls.
He needed to speak with Daedarus.
Who is (was) Ealadha? The world may never know.
Explanation Time: Abadan is an evil, Godzilla-level-mass-destruction-bringing Tuatha from Mag Mell (Annwn). He wants to destroy Elberon because let's be honest he just likes to destroy things. Dagda is also a Tuatha from Mag Mell, but he just wants to kill Abadan and could care less about Elberon. And Ealadha is the most intelligent of the bunch and a bit not good.
Trouble Lurking
“You’re Ealadha. You’re the Tuatha who’s been possessing Gorrell.”
The masked man whom Elie had come to know as Thomas Foolery inclined his head. An unnatural breeze stirred his cloak. The typically bright colors of the Aetheris were dull and murky, the sky gray and undulating with dark clouds. “Yes and no. I am called Ealadha, but I am no Tuatha.”
Elie shook his head. “But your Magic, it feels like—”
“Abadan’s? My Magic is indeed of Annwn. I, however, am not. My body, my soul, was born of the Earth.” Ealadha’s voice was deep and full, much more so than it had been as Tom. The round holes in his mask, painted to resemble the pale face of a barn owl, seemed suddenly much more menacing than they ever had before. Like twin black holes.
“I don’t understand,” Elie said cautiously. Ealadha was not as volatile as Abadan or Dagda, but Elie would not make the mistake of underestimating his power.
“I was once a Mage of Elberon. But I was an idealist, a fool. I believed I could bind the Magic of Mag Mell to my will and use it to change the world for the better. I journeyed to Annwn and, among the ruins of Murias, performed a series of rituals not unlike those taught to you by your First. I connected with Annwn in a way no mortal was ever meant to. She, Annwn, shred my soul so completely that even Daedarus Cain would cringe.”
Ealadha tilted his head back ever so slightly, and for a brief moment Elie caught a glimpse of the man’s eyes. They were pale, though he could not see their color, and curved into crescents. Elie thought he must be smiling under his mask. “But unlike dear Daedarus’s wounds, mine have never healed. Annwn is not so merciful as your Mother.”
“Ealadha the Sundered,” Elie said grimly. He swallowed once, twice, three times. The combination of the influx of information and the suffocating presence of Ealadha’s polluted Magic was becoming too much. If he didn’t get a grip soon, he would be expelled from the Aetheris.
“An appropriate epithet,” Ealadha agreed, “Given to me by an old friend.”
“If you’re from Elberon, then why try to destroy it?” Elie asked.
Ealadha hummed thoughtfully, clasping his hands behind his back, and for a moment Elie was reminded of Daedarus. “Because the Magi are in need of a messiah. Because someone must deliver them from their cultural decay. Because it is necessary to destroy before I can create. And because I can.”
“You’re delusional,” Elliot accused, his hands curling into fists. He could feel his Magic rising up, responding to his anger.
“Perhaps I would have agreed with you, once. But you must realize that what I am doing is not for myself. It is for the Magi. It is for Magic. I wish to create a renaissance. You have heard of Europe’s emergence from the Dark Ages into a period of cultural rebirth and growth? ”
Elie nodded faintly, feeling as though he had lost the direction of Ealadha’s logic.
“Tell me, little God Slayer, what started the Renaissance?”
Elie could only stare, horrified, as the pieces clicked into perfect, horrible place.
“The Crusades.”
Elie jolted awake, panting and gasping and drenched in sweat. He sat up and leaned against the headboard of his bed, running a hand through his dark curls.
He needed to speak with Daedarus.
Who is (was) Ealadha? The world may never know.
Explanation Time: Abadan is an evil, Godzilla-level-mass-destruction-bringing Tuatha from Mag Mell (Annwn). He wants to destroy Elberon because let's be honest he just likes to destroy things. Dagda is also a Tuatha from Mag Mell, but he just wants to kill Abadan and could care less about Elberon. And Ealadha is the most intelligent of the bunch and a bit not good.
